Light Therapy And The Healing Process

Light therapy is based on sound scientific knowledge that has begun to bridge the gap between intuition and science. According to physicist David Bohm, “all matter is frozen light”. Since the sun sustains all life, our health and well being is most dependent on the sun.

Sunlight

Sunlight is energy that comes to the earth in the form of electromagnetic waves. These waves radiate life into all living things. This energizes us and our world. Our physical and emotional being is aligned with nature through light.

Practitioners of Chinese medicine will give treatments at the changes of the seasons, because they understand how seasonal color changes affect the body’s system. Animals and plants are sensitive to the variations and intensity of daylight. Migration, breeding and hibernation all reflect changes in ambient lighting.

In humans sunlight affects psychological as well as physical functions. Mood is one such area. Correlations have been found between decreased exposure to sunlight and a subsequent increase in irritability, depression, fatigue, suicide and other illnesses.

Medical Applications

There have been many medical uses of light in ancient cultures such as Greece, Rome and Egypt. Color for healing was first used by Egyptian physicians. The Greeks practiced solar therapy. Heliotherapy is a healing system that involves exposure to sunlight, and was founded by Herodotus. Color being a manifestation of light has always held a therapeutic value to these cultures.

Lack of sufficient sunlight has been shown to contribute to obesity, lack of vitality and overall poor health. Children especially need time outdoors to reenergize. Too much time indoors under fluorescent lights will drain us of life force. Many modern conveniences such as sun glasses, tanning lotions, and fluorescent lights are not necessary as helpful as we have been led to believe.

Light energy is most certainly capable of positively affecting the healing process. Light has been used in the treatment of stress, learning disabilities, the immune system, and many life threatening diseases. As part of any family process, light therapy and full spectrum lighting alternatives should be explored. The therapeutic use of color and light should be a major part of any mind/body integration effort. Click here for the Transforming Child Behavior Home Page.

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SBI!